Saturday, August 2, 2008

Look Up Birmingham II


The Florentine Building on 21 st Street in downtown Birmingham is probably one of the most ornate buildings in the downtown area.  Built in 1928, it is amazingly good condition.  Luckily renovation work is soon to begin.  The green marble columns and intricate detailing make this well worth stopping and having a look up.

16 comments:

melanie said...

Très belle symétrie et excellent exemple de chapiteau corinthien. D'où vient le marbre vert ? D'une carrière proche ?

Clueless in Boston said...

Beautiful column. It is amazing what can be seen by looking up at buildings. I'm always surprised at some of the intricate detailing high up on older buildings that was put there just for beauty's sake. You rarely see anything like that on new buildings.

Virginia said...

Melanie,
Je suis desole', je ne sais pas.

Clueless,
New buildings are usually void of any real detail. The workmanship on this building is amazing. Such a treasure.

Eki said...

Yes, I agree with you. The beauty of the details of buildings like this is worth observing. The column's ornaments look very classic. How old is this building?

Virginia said...

Eki,
I just edited my post and included a link. Should have done that before. Thanks for your interest!

Rob said...

Beautiful details. These older buildings have so much character and charm.

On an unrelated note; this morning, my Windows Internet Explorer and google email will not open my blog. I am now working on installing Mozilla Firefox and reloading all the flash playes to go along for those music players, clock, webcounters, etc. Wow, what a hassle. I'm out of commision for a while. Glad I'm schedule posted 2 weeks ahead.

Janet said...

Great detail...just wish modern architecture was like this.

Laurie Allee said...

Virginia, what a lovely detail. Recently I took an alternate route off a very jammed freeway. I ended up on Broadway in downtown LA. It was amazing -- the gorgeous relief on all the old abandoned theatres. It's such a shame that a huge part of Los Angeles history is now barely getting by with T-shirt shops and 99 cent stores and a few markets. I must get back there to shoot pictures of detail on the buildings. Your picture reminds me of what I saw.

slim said...

Yes, what beautiful detail. I also like the symmetry in your composition here. This is my first visit to your blog . . . Birmingham looks like a fascinating place to live and feast the eye . . .
Your Paris sepia pictures just took my breath away . . . they are timeless. I also enjoyed listening to Michael Dulin ;)

Marie Reed said...

Dazzling! I'm so happy to have found a daily bit of Birmingham! I was born in Mobile myself:)

Chris said...

I agree with Rambling Rose. . . wish modern architecture had such nice details.

By the way. . . .getting ready to do the grammar thing.

Also, saw your comment about swiss chard. . .It's a great veggie. . . .Mom was Italian, and we had a lot of it. . . .Cook like you would spinach (boil) or saute in olive oil, add garlic and chunks of potatoes. YUM.

Virginia said...

Chris
Can't wait for the grammar blog and congratulations on your one year anniversary of Nashville Daily Photo!

Tash said...

Lovely architectural detail. The photo really caught my eye when viewing CDP.

M. CHRISTOPHE said...

Now we need to see the complete building

GrandAnglais said...

Very beautiful detail, would like to see the rest of it too!
I am from Birmingham, England and I'm enjoying looking at your photos comparing our two cities.
Keep up the good work.

Lee Ann said...

I just happened across your blog and I really like the photo a day approach. I recognize most of the places. I hope it will give people a chance to see some of the beautiful qualities of our city and meet some of the talented people who live here. Thanks for sharing what makes Birmingham special.